This is a press release from Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence, who are issuing a call to action in honor of Aasiya Zubair Hassan, who was murdered by her husband one year ago. Please redistribute and also check out the Facebook group for more information.

February 2010

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Dear Community,

Assalamu ‘alaykum; peace be upon you all. Last year, many of you joined Muslim leaders nationally and globally to speak out against domestic abuse. The wake-up call for many was the February 12th murder of Aasiya Zubair Hassan, general manager and co-founder of Bridges TV. Shortly thereafter, Muslim Men Against Domestic Abuse (www.mmada.org) was established to promote domestic tranquility in our communities. As we approach the one year anniversary of Sister Aasiya’s death, and as a means of encouraging communities to continue to speak out against domestic abuse, Muslim Men Against Domestic Abuse is organizing a Call to Action.

First and foremost, we hope that each community will devote one khutba (Friday sermon) this month to the topic of domestic abuse. To assist imams and leaders, we have created a document entitled “Talking Points (Khutba).” (This and other documents were compiled by our board members, a diverse group encompassing professors and students of Islamic studies, domestic abuse activists, and others.)

Attached you will also find five pledge forms at the very end of this document. We respectfully request that all communities participating in this campaign organize a pledge-signing campaign immediately following the khutba or lecture on domestic abuse. Your pledges represent a global Muslim stand against domestic abuse. Please feel free to make more copies if necessary. Once we collect your community’s pledges, all names will be transferred to the MMADA pledge on our website. We would kindly ask that you provide us with the signed pledges as soon as possible. These can be scanned and emailed, or sent to us as is. Our email and mailing addresses are below.

We have also included a “Domestic Abuse Fact Sheet” flier. We kindly request that you please hang this or a similar flier on your bulletin boards.

Finally, you will find two related MMADA articles, “Women and Men as ‘Garments'” and “The Healthy Community.”

Every community has our permission to copy and disseminate this Call to Action packet without limit. With your commitment and, most importantly, Allah’s (swt) permission, the actions suggested above will strengthen our stand.

Sincerely yours,

Muslim Men Against Domestic Abuse

1717 West Kirby Avenue, Suite 333

Champaign, IL 61821 (U.S.A.)

http://www.mmada.org

mmada22009@yahoo.com

Related: PDF file containing the packet of action items, forms, and fliers referred to above.